Snowman
by x se
Summary: [Hanatsuki] All Hanatarou wanted was to build a snowman, but Tatsuki insisted they build a snowfamily for some reason, and he ended up very sick and Tatsuki volunteers to take care of him while everyone else goes to the mountains for the week.
1. Snowball 1

Snowman  
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor am I making profit off this.

_**---**_

Yamada Hanatarou smiled brightly as he finished rolling up the head of the snowman. All that was left was to place it on top, then decorate. Rukia-san had often complained about her gigai not working, but then again, considering the truth behind that gigai, it wasn't exactly surprising when Hanatarou discovered the gigai was just as fine as his shinigami one, if a bit weaker.

Nearby, Abarai Renji and Kurosaki Ichigo were engaged in a snowball fight, though Madarame Ikkaku was hiding in a tree pelting both of them so discreetly, they thought the other was the one throwing them, and that had been what started the whole thing. Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki were making snow angels, while Kuchika Rukia was debating which side of the snowball fight she should join.

Sado Yasutora was carrying children on his head, though oddly enough, the only child around was Kurosaki Karin, her sister Yuzu having gone in to make cookies and hot chocolate. Ishida Uryuu was talking to Ukitake-taichou about how the idea of some shinigami taking turns staying in the human realm helping out with Hollow fighting, and how well it was going so far.

That was the reason so many of the shinigami were in the living realm out in the snow in weather nearing zero degrees, playing around and having an overall good time. This was the first group to be sent to the land of the living, and so far, it had been an enormous success. Hanatarou bent down and lifted the head up, having rolling it around on the ground for shape.

Hanatarou smiled at his work after placing the head on the shoulders of the snowman. He then took off his hat and scarf, placing them on the snowman and not really feeling the cold. He took out his zanpakutou, and used the bottom of the hilt to make eyes, then used his hand to make a mouth. He stepped back and grinned in satisfaction, before falling on his back and eventually falling to sleep.

_**---**_

It was an hour later when Hanatarou awoke. Feeling much colder than before, he sat up and looked around. The snowball fight seemed to have ended, as Ikkaku was lying on the ground with several bruises and Ichigo and Rukia could be heard arguing inside the house, Renji doing something else. The only people still outside, in fact, were Orihime and Tatsuki.

Orihime had run inside now, apparently going to help Uryuu repair his coat or something, leaving Tatsuki alone, looking over the hundreds of snow angels across the field. Hanatarou gave a weak cough and fell back into the snow, his eyes staring at the white sky. This was something nice, there wasn't snow in the Soul Society, the weather never changed.

"Wow, this is a really good snowman… Wonder who made it…" Hanatarou hadn't noticed himself closing his eyes as he thought, nor had he noticed Tatsuki walk over to admire his snowman. He sat up and smiled weakly.

"I-I did…" murmured Hanatarou quietly. Tatsuki jumped and stared down at him.

"I thought everyone went inside." said the girl, offering a hand to the snow-covered shinigami.

"I didn't…" replied Hanatarou meekly, taking Tatsuki's hand. "I'll go in if you want to be alone…"

"No, no…" Tatsuki shook her head. "Hey Yamada, we should make a whole family for this snowman."

Hanatarou blinked.

"Why?"

Tatsuki shrugged.

"Why not? Besides, it'll probably look really cool! Come on, I'll help!"

_**---**_

Hanatarou wiped his brow as he finished the head for the youngest, and eighth, child of the snow family. Now all to do was attach it to the mother, so it would look like a baby. Tatsuki had gone a few minutes ago to bring their hot chocolate out, after reheating it of course, but Hanatarou had a sneak suspicion she had forgotten about him.

After all, one could only hang around the guy who made snowmen for so much, then they'd get bored and leave. After all, why stay out in the cold and catch pneumonia when you could stay inside and be nice and warm? But then… Why didn't he go inside? The sun was setting as it was, and…

"It'll probably look really cool!"

No, it had nothing to do with the fact a girl had asked him to do it. Nor had it anything to do with the fact said girl had been red in the face due to the exertion of somehow making a snowmen army in such a short time (Orihime believed they would come to life and wanted there to be lots so they wouldn't be too lonely).

Nor had it been the fact that, unlike most of the pretty girls he knew, she didn't have an aura of superiority. True, the Captain and Vice Captain of the 4th Division didn't _intentionally_ have the aura, but it just came with the job and the skill. While Tatsuki was extremely strong, especially for a living teenager, she was also very nice, and while the other women he knew were nice, Tatsuki had a different type of nice.

It hadn't been the fact that she had drawn him and given him the drawing, because she had been bored that day and had drawn everyone. Nor had it been the fact that she was pretty, because that was a fact he couldn't get around anyway and to be fair, he knew some women who were drop dead gorgeous. But he wouldn't stand in the cold making snowmen for _them_. Well, he might but still…

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the sunset, because he had started to feel a bit off as well. Of course, if he had been thinking, he would have realized it had been plain _dumb_ to put his coat on one of the snowmen, and Tatsuki had said it was a downright stupid idea to do that anyway.

He didn't notice himself shivering either, nor did he notice the coughing, because he had realized a snow-grandfather would look really good in-between children five and six, and had begun making one. He only noticed he had been coughing when it had become so bad he dropped the grandfather-snowman's head and fell to the ground.

He didn't notice Tatsuki walk out of the house muttering about selfish jerks drinking all the hot chocolate and forcing her to make some herself, nor did he notice her mutter about how it wasn't her fault she broke the microwave since Yuzu had gone to sleep and there wasn't going to be any homemade hot chocolate for her and Hanatarou.

Hanatarou _did_ notice that he was in pain, and that he felt very light headed. He only noticed Tatsuki when he heard a crash and saw two broken mugs on the ground, brown snow, and her running over to him. He laughed weakly as Tatsuki multiplied. Why did she look so worrie…

THUMP

_**---**_

While Ichigo found it morbidly funny the medic had been the only one to get any kind of illness from the snow, he regretted mentioning it out loud after Tatsuki dumped her second mug of hot chocolate on his lap and punched him. Now he was out there nursing himself, according to a hysterical Renji anyway.

Ukitake recognized the symptoms. Hanatarou had not only been too in-synch with his gigai, said gigai being slightly defective in the fact that, if the temperature was low enough, it would get, to be blunt, really really sick. Which meant he couldn't go to the mountains with everyone the next day, which the group was leaving for in a few mere hours.

And oddly enough, Tatsuki seemed all to happy to ask if she could stay and take care of Hanatarou, and after convincing Orihime it would be alright for her stay alone with him for a week, and she also managed to convince Ukitake after taking him to the corner to whisper.

Smiling a realistic fake smile, Tatsuki waved the car/limo/thing (driven by Isshin, who had shown up after picking up Urahara, Yoruichi,Ururu, Jinta, and Tessai) off. She dropped the smile and pulled out a piece of paper, grinned at it, before pocketing it and heading towards the large house belonging to Orihime (which she had somehow won in a contest Uryuu entered her in after hearing she lived in a hotel. Without telling her he did so, of course)

Tatsuki stopped walked when she came across the snow-family. She really hadn't taken a good look at it, nor had she done as much of the work as Hanatarou had. They really were something too. It wasn't often you could look at a snowman and say "Hey, that's a really good snowman," but now Tatsuki was looking at eleven of them.

When she arrived inside, she was pleased to see Hanatarou waking up. She wasn't pleased that only after a few moments, he began coughing terribly and choking out cries of "water" between coughs, not really knowing where he was. Tatsuki walked over to the table next to the bed in the (one of many) guest room, and handed Hanatarou a class of lukewarm water, which he drank down instantly.

A few moments passed and Hanatarou looked at Tatsuki.

"T-Tatsuki-san… What happened?" he asked hoarsely.

"You caught something really bad that you can only get from a defective 'gigai.'" said Tatsuki, leaning back in the chair. "You know… You did a really good job on those snowmen, but you really should have come inside."

Hanatarou flushed.

"I… I guess…" he croaked, giving a weak cough. Tatsuki closed her eyes and sighed.

"Well, everyone left for the mountains already, so it's just you and me here for a week…" Tatsuki missed Hanatarou flush a deeper shade of red, as her eyes were closed. His eyes widened then.

"I-I'm sorry Tatsuki-san… You're stuck here because of me…" muttered Hanatarou, his hoarse voice making him sound even more pathetic. In his opinion, anyway.

"Hey hey, no problem…" Tatsuki grinned at him. "I needed an excuse to stay here anyway, because…"

Tatsuki trailed off, before digging her hand in her pocket and pulling out a piece of paper, which depicted two fighting youths on it.

"There's this big tournament in two days, and I'm already supposed to be in it…" Tatsuki grinned. "So it's like a blessing in disguise that you got sick!"

Hanatarou looked hurt, and somewhat scared actually, after that comment, and simply sunk into the bed. Tatsuki realized that was _not_ something you told someone who missed out on a vacation they were looking forward to _and_ who probably felt like utter crap.

"If it's any consolation, I'm glad it's you that got sick and not, say… That Ikkaku guy." added Tatsuki. "You'd be my first choice, since Orihime's boobs are heaters or something and she never really gets cold, or sick from it… But anyway, we'll just have to have some kind of fun here while they're off doing whatever, right?"

Hanatarou now looked extremely embarrassed, but not hurt anymore. He nodded nonetheless, still somewhat surprised at Tatsuki's comment, while Tatsuki grinned.

"Well, I'll go make some hot chocolate and then… I dunno, I'll think of something." Tatsuki then walked off, leaving Hanatarou with a small smile and a bit of warmth in his freezing body.

End


	2. Snowball 2

Snowman  
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor am I making profit off this.

* * *

Even though he had only just woken up, Hanatarou felt oddly drained. Very much so, and part of him was telling him it would be alright this one time if he fell to sleep, he was sick. The other part argued that Tatsuki was bringing hot chocolate and it would be rude to have her carry it up, just to find him asleep. In the end, the latter side won and Hanatarou patiently waited for the hot chocolate.

However, the problem was that his throat felt very raw, and he'd much prefer something cool and soft as opposed to something hot. But should he say such a thing? Once more, he argued with himself, whether he should (rudely) ask for a "milk-shake" (what an odd, but delicious, thing that was) even after she went to make him hot chocolate, or to just bear with the hot chocolate and (maybe) ask for a cooler refreshment later.

Well, in all his arguing with himself, Hanatarou hadn't realized he was falling asleep until he heard Tatsuki walked into the room and set something down.

"Huh? Maybe he's a lot sicker than I thought…" murmured the girl. As Hanatarou was trying to force himself wake, she sighed. "Well, I wonder if Orihime has some medicine that would work or… Something."

Hanatarou's eyes managed to open just as Tatsuki closed the door. On the desk next to the door, was a tray, with hot chocolate, a large plate of cookies, and two glasses of milk. Hanatarou's stomach rumbled. But his gigai, his body until he was better or needed for battle, was too tired to get up and get the food. And he would _never_ ask for Tatsuki to come back, even if it was in his ability to do so.

Sighing, Hanatarou closed his eyes as the smell of cookies drifted over to him. It was keeping him awake. Which meant, despite how tired he was, he couldn't get to sleep. He groaned and began coughing, before turning over in bed and sighing. He was _tired_… Much more so than a few moments ago… Slowly, Hanatarou felt himself begin to drift across an endless ocean of comfort. He felt himself just lie there, and was unsure of whether or not he was asleep. He didn't feel sick, but he didn't feel asleep…

Hanatarou sat up and looked around. Where was he? He was on a bed, but... It was floating on a large mass of water. Why was it floating on a large mass of water? Where exactly was he? There looked like an island in the distance, with a snowy mountain in the center.

"Can you hear me?"

Hanatarou looked around, yet saw nothing. Well, of course he saw nothing, there _was nothing_ to see in the first place. But it would be rude to not answer the voice.

"Yes I can… Who are you? Where am I?" asked Hanatarou.

"This is your-."

Hanatarou interrupted the voice as a pain began growing in his chest, an unbearable pain. Hanatarou began to cough, but these coughs were worse than before. He soon began clutching his throat and sides due to the pain.

"Hanatarou!"

Hanatarou sat up once more, not recognizing where he was. But he couldn't stop coughing, and then suddenly he heard yelling in the haze of just waking up. He couldn't decipher it, and for a minute, it looked like he was still on the floating bed in that strange world.

"Hanatarou! Hanatarou!" As his coughs died down, Hanatarou realized someone was thumping him on the back and holding him steady, a glass of water in front of him. Not knowing, and frankly, not caring who it was, Hanatarou took the glass and drank it down as fast as he could. The coughs were still there, but at least he could hold them down now…

"Thanks…" murmured Hanatarou, looking up at his savior. Tatsuki grinned weakly.

"You okay? I found some cough drops that might help, but other than that…" Tatsuki trailed off and Hanatarou sleepily rubbed his eyes.

"What's a cough drop?" asked the sleepy shinigami, before realized he wasn't as tired as he was before… Before he went to that strange world. A dream, that's what it was. But quite an interesting one…

"It's something that helps coughs…" replied Tatsuki, standing up and stretching, Hanatarou looking at her in a haze. Directly behind Tatsuki, was an open window; the light only showing the girl's silhouette, and all in all, a very beautiful sight. Blushing, Hanatarou looking at his lap while Tatsuki closed the shades.

"So… Your throat good for breakfast?" asked Tatsuki. Hanatarou swallowed some saliva, eyes closed, and then took a breath and nodded. "Can you get up?"

Hanatarou looked at his arms, lifting them. They moved fine, if a bit shaky. So, Hanatarou moved the blankets to the side and stood, both hands on the desk next to the bed. His legs felt like thy would collapse any moment, however, Hanatarou wanted to see if he had any strength at all, and if the strength he _did_ have would last.

"Do you… Want some help?" asked Tatsuki. Hanatarou took a breath.

"We'll see…" replied the medic shinigami. He pushed off the desk, and stumbled, before regaining himself and shakily standing up. However, it only lasted a moment, before he fell to the ground, shaking and unable to get back up. Desperately, Hanatarou reached for the desk and once again pulled himself up. Just as he was moving back to the bed, Tatsuki walked over, took his arm, and wrapped it behind her neck.

"I'll help you." said Tatsuki brightly, not at all effected by the added weight of Hanatarou as she led the two of them out of the room, in an odd limp-like walk, and over to the stairs. She moved slightly to the side, allowing Hanatarou to grasp the railing and steady himself. She pulled away, albeit somewhat reluctantly and somewhat worried. "Think you can make it down yourself?"

Somewhere, the part of him that had been beat down for years by almost everyone he knew in the Soul Society, the part of him that had been sparked back to life by Kuchiki Rukia, Kurosaki Ichigo, and Shiba Ganjyu; woke once more. It told him that he should be able to take care of himself, no matter how sick he was. He was the one supposed to take care of people, not the other way around.

"I'll try…" was all that Hanatarou managed to say. And try he did, very hard in fact. Tatsuki, who knew exactly what was wrong with Hanatarou, thanks to Ukitake, gained a bit of respect for the shinigami, but just a bit, and even she didn't know it then. Because after four steps, he tumbled down the rest and she was too mad at him for trying to do it himself, and worried he might have broken a bone or something. According to Ukitake, gigai weren't very strong, especially when they had the problem Hanatarou's did.

"You alright? Hanatarou?" sliding down the railing and hopping off at the end, Tatsuki crouched down and then Hanatarou began coughing again. Setting him upright, Tatsuki looked at him, frowned and began walking to the kitchen. "Look, I'm going to get you some more water, I'll be right back!"

Hanatarou didn't notice her, once again clutching his chest, and now holding onto the stairs for support as to not collapse. Saliva, and even a few droplets of blood, came out as he coughed, feeling ready to collapse. Just as he lost grip and was about to crash into the hardwood floor, two warm arms encircled him and sat him up.

"Drink this, hurry." said Tatsuki, a tone of almost urgence in her voice. Of course there was, Ukitake hadn't mentioned anything about his coughs being bad enough for there to be blood. All he had said after the basic explanation was that it should only last four days, at most. But those four days would be hellish, and Tatsuki was starting to think he hadn't been exaggerating, even if he said he had been.

Hanatarou's coughs weren't stopping as easily as they had been, instead he coughed into the glass of water, some of it's contents splashing out onto his face and some of it going down his throat. Still being held up by Tatsuki, Hanatarou continued to drink, until the cup was drained. However, the coughs weren't stopping.

"I'll be right back." Taking the glass and propping Hanatarou up on the wall, Tatsuki got up and wondered if someone else should have stayed, because honestly, she wasn't trained or equipped to help him, especially if it started to get worse. There was a possibility of a real blizzard, and Tatsuki didn't want to think about what would happen if they lost power.

Hanatarou's coughs slowly began to die down, but in his hazy mind, he wondered where the warmth had gone. Where was the warmth? Why had it left him? What was the warmth, anyway? Hanatarou's coughs soon were gone, but his breathing was still very heavy and his throat and lungs were aching and stinging like nothing he'd ever felt before.

But then, the warmth came back. The warmth, Hanatarou now recognized it as Tatsuki once again and began to remember where he was, handed him a glass of water. Taking the glass, Hanatarou drained it with ease and shakily wiped his mouth with the back of his hands, his eyes giving an apologetic look.

"Sorry I'm such a burden to you, Tatsuki-san…" murmured Hanatarou sleepily. "I'm sorry…"

Tatsuki would have hit him, she really would have, if he didn't look so sad and pathetic, if he had been in better health. Not a hit meant to hurt, a playful one… Maybe. And she'd yell too. This wasn't his fault, he had been planning to go inside and then _she_ told him she wanted a snow family, and being the nice guy he was, he had made it, fantastically so too, at the cost of his health and vacation.

And he was _apologizing_ for being a _burden_. Here she was worrying she wasn't good enough to keep him okay for these four days, and he goes and does that. It really pushed her buttons. It wasn't buttons for anger though, it was something else, something she couldn't quite identify. Sighing, Tatsuki stood up and looked down at him.

"Well, something tells me you'd rather have something cold than hot chocolate, so you stay here and I'll bring over a milk shake along with breakfast. We'll eat right here…" Nodding at this plan of action, Tatsuki ran a hand through her hair, gave a last lingering at Hanatarou and smiled weakly. "I'll be right back… Try not to fall asleep this time, unless you have to, okay?"

Tatsuki walked off, looking back at Hanatarou once, before leaving his sight. And Hanatarou smiled weakly, because the warmth was still there.

End


End file.
